About book Diné Bahane': The Navajo Creation Story (1987)
The dilapidated copy I read came as a discard from the high school library in Kirtland. Mom says it's one of the books that tends to walk out and not come back, which surprised me at first. However, I loved it. As far as authenticity goes, it's a little strange- written by an English prof from PA with no training in ethnology or anthropology, no experience with the Navajo culture, no knowledge of the language, and plenty of enthusiasm. His primary source is another book by another author from around the turn of the century, and although he did a vast amount of impeccable research, he collected very little of the material himself. That said, he took the greatest of pains to make sure each story reflected the least European influence and was told in a manner as close to a storytelling or performance experience as he could make it. In short, this is probably the closest those of us lacking Navajo grandparents will get to hearing the "real thing." I would far rather have heard it from grandparents, but Zolbrod did a fine job.
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